{"id":6041,"date":"2026-05-21T19:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cifrum.kz\/digital-bridge-2025-180-startups-prize-pool\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:14:34","slug":"digital-bridge-2025-180-startups-prize-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cifrum.kz\/en\/digital-bridge-2025-180-startups-prize-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Bridge 2025: 180 startups fought for the prize pool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the international forum Digital Bridge 2025<\/strong> in Astana, the region’s largest startup battle \u2014 Astana Hub Battle<\/strong> \u2014 was held. This year the competition featured 180 IT companies from Central Eurasia, with a total prize pool of US$125,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

79 projects advanced to the semi-finals, with 14 reaching the finals. They were joined by the AI Sana Generative Pitch winner \u2014 the TrustExam AI<\/strong> startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winners and categories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best projects were named across seven categories, five of which received cash prizes of $25,000:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Best Social Impact<\/strong> \u2014 WeGlobal.AI<\/strong>, building career-orientation solutions for schoolchildren.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Discovery of the Year<\/strong> \u2014 MindShield<\/strong>, supporting early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Exponential Growth<\/strong> \u2014 winner TrustExam AI<\/strong>, fighting academic fraud.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ticket to the Future<\/strong> \u2014 Moon.AI<\/strong>, building an AI operating system for SMBs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • MA7 Award<\/strong> \u2014 Mirai Tech<\/strong>, wearable sensors for sport and rehabilitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In addition, MacDent<\/strong> received a special grant from Kazakhtelecom, and flection.ai<\/strong> won the Yandex Qazaqstan Startup Spotlight award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Significance for the region<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Astana Hub head Magzhan Madiyev noted that such events confirm the high potential of IT entrepreneurs in Central Eurasia. According to him, the region’s startups are already creating competitive solutions in AI, healthcare, education, and fintech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Astana Hub Battle<\/strong> targets teams with finished products at MVP or PMF stages. In 2025 applications came from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, as well as Russia, the US, and the UAE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Digital Bridge 2025<\/strong> forum is held with the support of Freedom Bank Kazakhstan, Kaspi.kz, Yandex Qazaqstan, Kazakhtelecom, and other partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    At the international forum Digital Bridge 2025 in Astana, the region’s largest startup battle \u2014 Astana Hub Battle \u2014 was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_focus_keyword":"digital bridge 2025","rank_math_title":"Digital Bridge 2025: 180 startups fought for th\u2026 | Cifrum.kz","rank_math_description":"At the international forum Digital Bridge 2025 in Astana, the region's largest startup battle \u2014 Astana Hub Battle \u2014 was held. 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